Preferred Citation note

Biographical/Historical note

John W. Larner, Jr. was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on April 20, 1938. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1960 at Rice University and received his Masters degree at Pittsburgh University in 1961. Larner completed his doctoral work in history at West Virginia University in 1972. He served as Supervisor of Indian Treaty Rights for Canada's National Indian Brotherhood (N.I.B.) from 1971 to 1972 and worked for that organization as a free-lance writer and researcher in the early 1970s. This collection of papers reflects Larner's association with the National Indian Brotherhood of Canada.

The National Indian Brotherhood was founded in 1968 as the Canadian government's representative federation of all provincial Indian organizations. An economic and social non-profit association, the National Indian Brotherhood is the official body advocating Indian issues, and acts in a consultative role to the Canadian national government. The stated goals of the Brotherhood include: collaboration with provincial and territorial organizations on regional matters; securing, enforcing, and fulfilling of all Indian treaties and aboriginal rights; and attaining national Indian unity. Interested in environmental issues, the National Indian Brotherhood also seeks to decentralize resources for Indian people. The National Indian Brotherhood conducts meetings and workshops, as well as presents papers nation-wide on such themes as education, communication, housing, the economy, and medicare. The staff of the National Indian Brotherhood travels extensively throughout Canada to engage in public relations activities and advocate the objectives of the organization. The research arm of the National Indian Brotherhood conducts studies on Indian rights, treaties, education, and legal matters.

Scope and Contents note

Documents range from Canadian statutes and court decisions to position papers, and from environmental literature to essays addressing various questions pertaining to Canadian Indian cultural issues. Other papers include Dr. Larner's correspondence with National Indian Brotherhood staff members, minutes of tribal and governmental meetings, National Indian Brotherhood committee reports, United Nations publications, and published or unpublished literature on a variety of subjects from other Canadian Indian organizations. The papers cover the years from 1971 to 1975, but bulk largest from 1971 to 1973.